The installation of an electrical fitting (such as a power point) onto a wall typically includes routing an electrical cable to the fitting. This involves making a relatively small opening in the wall adjacent to where the fitting is to be mounted (at the first location) and subsequently passing a length of cable down the wall cavity and through the opening. Typically, a length of stiff plastic or other suitable material is attached to the end of the cable and it is this length of material that is initially passed into the cavity.
The cable is passed down the wall cavity from a second location, typically the roof space. It is generally quite difficult to determine with accuracy the location of the opening when the cable installer (typically an electrician) is positioned within the roof space. Accordingly, the installer estimates the likely position of the opening using measurements and constructional identifiers (such as uprights and pillars) and then passes the cable through the cavity.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, to enable the end of the cable to be accessed from the opening, it is important that the cable (or weighted draw string) be fed into the wall cavity at an entry point which is more or less directly above the opening. It is also important that the cable end be lowered to a suitable height.
In some situations, where access to the top of the wall cavity is restricted, it is difficult to accurately identify the ideal entry point for the cable. In many cases, this difficulty is due to physical barriers such as beams or roof space dividers or because of the roof construction. These physical barriers may prevent the cable installer from “looking down” the cavity for observable signs of the opening in the wall (for example, light entering into the cavity from via the opening). In such situations, the cable (or weighted draw string) may inadvertently be fed into the cavity from a point that is to the side of the ideal entry point.
It will also be appreciated that from the second location, the cable installer will not be able to readily tell whether the cable has reached the opening. Accordingly, the installer may need to move back and forth between the first and second locations a number of times, before the cable is successfully passed through the cavity, captured and pulled through the opening.
If the cable installer is unable to locate the cable end at the first location (for example, because it has not been fed into the wall cavity correctly), the cable installer may be forced to return to the second position to manipulate the cable.
The above described process is inefficient, and although the efficiency may be improved by using two people to perform the installation, there would be an advantage if a single cable installer was able to be guided to the correct entry point and, during the process of lowering the cable end, be able to detect when the cable end has reached the opening.
The discussion of background to the invention herein is included to explain the context of the invention. This is not to be taken as an admission that any of the material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge in Australia.